Brewers stun Dodgers with back-to-back homers in 7th inning and take 3-0 lead in NLCS with 6-2 win

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell hit back-to-back homers off Blake Snell as Milwaukee regained the lead in the seventh inning, and the Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-2 on Wednesday to take a 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

Los Angeles had just taken a 2-1 lead in the sixth before getting stunned. The loss pushed the two-time defending World Series champions to the brink of elimination.

“All three games we’ve played so far, and hopefully that continues, where just every time they score, we come back and score,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “That’s not easy to do in baseball.”

Game 4 is Thursday at Dodger Stadium, where the Brewers can become the first major league club to complete a postseason sweep after getting swept by that same opponent in the previous postseason. Los Angeles took all four games against Milwaukee in the NLCS last year.

The only other time the Dodgers trailed 3-0 in a best-of-seven postseason series, they were swept by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series.

The lone team in big league history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven postseason series was the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 AL Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

“We’ve won four in a row a number of times this year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “We've got to win tomorrow. That’s our only focus.”

Coming into the seventh, Snell had retired 14 batters in a row. The first pitch of the game thrown by the two-time Cy Young Award winner was hit for a home run by Jackson Chourio, and his last pitch was Mitchell's solo shot.

Andrew Vaughn drew a seven-pitch walk to open the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Christian Yelich. Bauers followed with a 412-foot drive to right field on the 11th pitch of the at-bat for a 3-2 lead as most of the players in Milwaukee's dugout came onto the field to celebrate.

Mitchell was next and his drive traveled 428 feet to right-center. That chased Snell, who hadn't given up a home run in 46 1/3 innings this year entering the game. It was only the second time in his career the left-hander served up multiple home runs to left-handed hitters in one game.

And it was the latest relentless plate appearance for Bauers, who drew a 12-pitch walk from Yoshinobu Yamamoto that helped the Brewers go ahead early in Game 2.

Milwaukee, which has never beaten the Dodgers in three previous playoff series, is chasing its second pennant and first in the National League. The Brewers were in the American League when they reached their only World Series, a seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.

Snell gave up four runs and four hits in six innings, struck out nine and walked two.

The Brewers extended the lead to 5-2 in the eighth on Justin Wrobleski's wild pitch that scored Brice Turang, who reached on an infield single and advanced to third on William Contreras' single. They added another run on Joey Ortiz's two-strike RBI single in the ninth.

The offensively starved Dodgers took their first lead, 2-1, on Will Smith's two-run double off reliever Abner Uribe in the sixth.

After rookie starter Robert Gasser pitched five shutout innings, Uribe entered and loaded the bases on walks to Teoscar Hernández, Kyle Tucker and Shohei Ohtani. Smith, who was 1 for 25 in the playoffs, doubled off the left-center fence with one out for his first hit of the NLCS.

DL Hall took over from Uribe and stranded runners at second and third by striking out pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández and Tommy Edman.

Hall allowed one hit in 2 1/3 scoreless innings to improve to 3-0 in these playoffs. Trevor Megill got four outs for his second save of the series and fourth this postseason.

The Dodgers played from behind again after the 22-year-old Chourio connected for his third career leadoff homer as fans were still heading to their seats.

After that, Mitchell walked and Cooper Pratt singled in the second before Snell retired 14 in a row — six on strikeouts — before getting hammered in the seventh.

The Dodgers had runners on base in all but three innings, but couldn't get enough across. They have yet to homer in the NLCS.

Ohtani was 1 for 2 with a walk while hitting sixth in the order, the lowest he's batted since joining the Dodgers three years ago.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell catches a fly out hit by Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Tommy Edman during the fifth inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell walks off the mound during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio watches his solo home run take flight during the first inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Garrett Mitchell yells towards his dugout after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers connects for a two run home run during the seventh inning of Game 3 of baseball's National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) — Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff faced off with angry members of the school’s faculty Wednesday at a meeting that underscored deep frustration on campus over his administration’s handling of a woman’s report that she was gang raped at a fraternity house in 2024.

Kotlikoff addressed members of the university's Faculty Senate, and took their questions, as it began considering a no-confidence resolution in his administration.

The meeting was closed to the media, but in an audio recording obtained by The Associated Press, Kotlikoff repeatedly asked for more time to implement reforms and push for cultural changes in student social life.

He insisted that experienced leadership was necessary to confront problems “that are not simplistic, they’re not easy, they can’t be brushed aside with a wave of a hand.”

“I also think that if this university feels that they will solve this problem by replacing a president, that itself is is not good for Cornell’s reputation because I don’t think it’s the right way to address situations like this,” he said.

Kotlikoff also left open the possibility of sweeping restrictions on Greek life, saying Cornell needed to determine whether fraternities that are now a centerpiece of student socializing could operate safely. On Tuesday, Kotlikoff announced a ban on fraternity parties through the end of the academic year and plans to give state police a role in investigating sexual assault reports.

“If, at the end of the day, fraternities cannot exist in a safe environment and we can’t be convinced that they can be safe, then we should make that decision,” he said, adding that the university should rely on research and evidence rather than emotion.

Kotlikoff left the meeting after answering questions and did not stay for the debate over the no-confidence resolution.

After he departed, a string of faculty members said they had lost confidence in the administration's ability to effectively combat the problem of sexual assault on campus.

“The faculty were extremely angry. They gave him a hard time, I think appropriately so,” Richard Bensel, a professor of government, said after leaving the meeting.

Some Faculty Senate members who spoke, however, urged colleagues not to be hasty, or said that passing a no-confidence vote now would do little to address the underlying problems.

Debate was expected to continue Oct. 28, followed by electronic voting.

A no-confidence vote by the faculty would be largely symbolic, but could send a powerful message to the university's trustees, who ultimately decide how the university is run and who leads it.

Kotlikoff declined to speak to reporters after leaving the meeting.

A woman identified in court documents by the pseudonym Jane Doe filed a lawsuit last month alleging that seven Chi Phi fraternity members sexually assaulted or exploited her in October 2024 and that Cornell mishandled her complaints.

All of those men have denied her allegations, saying either that their interactions with the woman were consensual or that they weren't involved.

The criminal investigation by Cornell's police department quickly stalled after the local district attorney decided, only weeks after the woman went to police in 2024, that no crime had been committed.

At the time, Kotlikoff publicly addressed what he called “deeply disturbing” allegations, suspended the fraternity and said criminal and university investigations were underway. He subsequently convened a presidential task force to examine how Cornell handles sexual assault.

But in an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, Kotlikoff said he never followed up to learn what had happened to the woman or the criminal investigation.

Asked by a faculty member whether it was true that he hadn’t read the Cornell Police Department report on the woman’s allegations, Kotlikoff acknowledged that he had not, but not because he didn't care.

The police investigation was confidential, he said, and university policy is that top administrators shouldn’t have a role in the criminal side of the investigation.

“I really reject the idea that I had no interest in it or was not concerned about it.”

Kotlikoff denied that he wasn't aware that students had been expelled or suspended as a result of the university's Title IX investigation, but he acknowledged that, until recently, he didn't know the woman had dropped out of Cornell.

“The institution is split in significant ways,” said Grant Farred, professor of Africana Studies and English, describing those in the humanities as feeling they had enough information to proceed while those in the sciences wanted more data.

Iris Packman, a senior research and policy development associate at Cornell’s ILR School Climate Jobs Institute, said after leaving that she felt Kotlikoff got “defensive.”

Labor history professor Paul Ortiz, lead sponsor of the no-confidence resolution, said the debate was animated by the perception that the administration wasn't doing enough to address “a perpetual ongoing crisis.”

Anne Marie Brady, a senior extension associate at Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, said she welcomed Kotlikoff’s recent announcement that state police would take on a role in campus sexual assault investigations, but she questioned the timing, a day before the Senate debate.

For Ariana Kim, an associate music professor at Cornell, Kotlikoff’s acknowledgment that he had not followed up on the woman’s case was “appalling.”

A Grammy-nominated violinist, Kim told The Associated Press that when she first started at Cornell a decade ago in her 20s, she experienced bullying and sexual harassment by senior colleagues. Cornell, she said, failed to properly document her complaints and never clearly informed her of what disciplinary action, if any, had been taken.

“I was asked what I had done to provoke the situation,” she said.

Kim said her efforts to avoid colleagues who had harassed her later became a point of criticism during her tenure review. In one instance, a senior professor cited her unwillingness to accept his advice and her avoidance of him in explaining his vote against granting her tenure.

Kim spent more than a year appealing the initial tenure denial, which was ultimately overturned.

Now seeking promotion to full professor, Kim said she feared publicly criticizing university leaders could again jeopardize her career.

Kotlikoff became the university’s interim president in July 2024 and took the job permanently last year.

He's faced challenges including a dining and custodial workers strike, ire over his decision last year to pay $60 million to settle Trump administration civil rights investigations, and accusations from activists that his administration stifled campus protests.

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Willingham reported from Boston.

Students walk through Cornell University's campus, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y. (AP Photo/Matt Burkhartt)

Demonstrators march from the Washington Monument to the White House during a "Stop Sexual Violence" protest in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Demonstrators march from the Washington Monument to the White House during a "Stop Sexual Violence" protest in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)